Theme: The Big Questions

Our great ability as humans is our ability to think, to come up with innovative ideas, to ask life-changing questions.

To be human is to ask questions; to explore the possibilities of life and develop a unique perception of reality is rooted in human instinct and is the cause for innovation. As a child, we think, why is the sky blue? Are unicorns real? The human mind is boundless, endlessly curious about the universe which surrounds it. With curiosity comes a desire to understand, and this desire then creates an infinite sea of questions unique to oneself. So which questions should be brought into the spotlight? What should we, as humans, be asking ourselves?

Thus, TEDxIroquoisRidgeHS is proud to provide a platform for our youth to discuss these “Big Questions” and inspire a new generation of leaders and thinkers.

Speaker Application: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdUiXekKB6vj9sT0p5jZADWNfZZS8YP0WlZaZ_GOSB-LV0Naw/viewform

Iroquois Ridge High School
1123 Glenashton Drive
Theater
Oakville, Ontario, L6H 5M1
Canada

Blake Fleischacker

Professional Speaker

Blake Fly is a husband, dad, entrepreneur and 9-time TEDx Speaker. Blake's innovative sales approaches, creative connection strategies and relationship-building methods have gotten him hired to deliver speeches on over 1000 in-person stages and invited to work with companies such as Lululemon, LinkedIn and Microsoft. Blake is also the producer of the 55-year event series for business leaders, called “Thank U Live.” It is the annual gratitude tradition for entrepreneurs to look back on their year, celebrate their progress and appreciate the people in their life, by delivering hundreds of thank you messages in real-time. One of his current passion projects is called “Dad Making History” as a way to help fellow dads connect even more creatively with their kids. It is a community of entrepreneurial dads who record mini monthly messages for their children, with the goal of gifting all those messages to their kids, much much later in life.

Eason Sun

Student

Eason Sun is a Grade 9 student currently attending Iroquois Ridge High School who has a passion in science, prompting him to share his thoughts at TEDxIroquois Ridge. Eason's hobbies include reading, playing video games, and the occasional coding for fun. In his TEDx talk titled "Unleashing the Power of Why," Eason will delve into the importance of curiosity. He'll explore how the simple question "why" can ignite a thirst for knowledge and unlock a deeper understanding of the world around us.

Elias Markou

Naturopathic Doctor

Dr. Elias Markou, ND was a former professional firefighter now a Naturopathic Doctor with 20 years experience. Dr Markou works closely with patients treating conditions with connections to environmental toxicities. Beyond his private practice, he is an inspiring motivational speaker. A beacon of knowledge, Dr. Markou illuminates the health blogosphere by sharing wisdom that empowers many worldwide. Dr Elias Markou helps empower individuals to elevate their health.

Ellis Kim

Student

Off-stage, Ellis Kim is an avid volunteer, a boba-lover, and a dynamic 10th grader at Iroquois Ridge High School. On-stage, she is a captivating public speaker whose passion for speaking has blossomed immensely over the past years, fueling her excitement to present at TEDxIroquois Ridge 2024. In her speech, titled “The Secret to Becoming a Superhero (Again),” Ellis will delve into the steps needed to reignite the spark of childhood passions. She looks forward to soon unveiling the hidden secret to rediscovering our dreams from long ago — even if it was to become a superhero.

Judy Wang

Student

Judy is a Gr. 9 active student, BP debater, and amateur entomologist (insects) at IRHS. Judy is currently a Gr. 9 Rep for Interact (a community service club under Rotary). In her spare time, you can find her binge-watching Grey's Anatomy, obsessing over interesting insects, and singing along with her favorite songs (she is very off-key but will get mad if you point that out). She was passionate about public speaking since the dawn of time and enjoys annoying people with all her talk about debate. In her speech, "To Be or Not to Be... Forever", she will be exploring the topic of immortality and why it's not that great, which is especially relevant in this era of rapidly growing medical technology.

Kaitlyn Hou

Student

Kaitlyn Hou is a Grade 10 student at Abbey Park High School. Driven by a profound passion for public speaking and engaging the community in philosophical thought, she pursued TEDx with the goal to share her personal insights and raise questions about stigmas in today’s society. Kaitlyn is the co-founder of Youth Philosophy Forum, an international philosophy research group, and despite arguments that philosophy is a dying subject, she believes it’s relevance remains both profound and existent in everyone’s everyday lives. By examining the philosophical critiques of the capitalistic hustle culture we currently exist under, Kaitlyn points to a phenomenon we all understand - burn out-, and hopes to underline a philosophical perspective in her speech, “Lock In”; A Philosophical Critique on Hustle Culture and today’s Burnout Society.

Kolina Kakan

Student

Kolina Kakan is a dedicated leader, and advocate, currently excelling as a grade 10 student at Iroquois Ridge High School. With a profound fascination for the power of the human mind, Kolina has emerged as a beacon of leadership within her community. From spearheading initiatives in debate and environmental activism to holding executive positions in various clubs to foster inclusivity and belonging, Kolina consistently demonstrates her commitment to positive change. As a student senator and member of the student council, she amplifies voices and initiates meaningful dialogue. Join us as Kolina presents her TED talk titled “Unlocking the Power Within: Thinking Right No Matter What,” offering insights into harnessing our minds, having the right mindset and thinking right for a brighter future.

Michael Roderick

CEO of Small Pond Enterprise

Michael Roderick is the CEO of Small Pond Enterprises which helps thoughtful givers become thought leaders by making their brands referable, their messaging memorable, and their ideas unforgettable. His frameworks have been featured in Forbes, Business Insider, and popular podcasts like The Art of Charm and Unmistakable Creative. Michael is also the host of the podcast Access to Anyone which shows how you can get to know anyone you want in business and in life using the latest technology and time tested principals. Michael began his career in education teaching High School English before breaking into the world of Broadway producing. He made this transition in less than two years prompting colleagues to ask him how he did it. This led to Michael creating a series of experiential workshops to study the dynamics behind relationship building and messaging.

Natalie Marttila

Student

Natalie Marttila is a creative and dedicated grade 10 student who currently attends Iroquois Ridge High School. She is new to the world of public speaking, but is sure that she will be able to take this challenge head on. In her free time, Natalie enjoys reading, origami, gardening and hiking. She currently serves as the grade 10 representative for the Iroquois Ridge Puzzle Club. Natalie’s TEDx speech is titled “Loss of Curiosity: What happened to the big questions?”. In it, she will be exploring the reasons why so many of us lost the curiosity and wonder we had in early childhood, why it is so needed, and how we can gain it back.

Osa Gupta

Student

Meet Osa Gupta, a Grade 10 student at IRHS who is really interested in… the world. Poverty, injustice, environment. Technology. space. art. everything. But, at times, she’s not actually quite sure what she’s truly passionate about. Seeing her indecision, it’s easy to imagine her struggle when she was trying to make arguably one of the most important decisions of her life — her choice of career. While she searched for a career that fit, she fortunately stumbled upon a 3-step recipe for effective career decision-making. In her talk, “Every Youth's Most Dreaded Question; Confronted" she wants to share it to her fellow high schoolers, hoping to alleviate their uncertainties, and to make their transition out of high school a bit less overwhelming.